How have Dell printers turned out so far?
So far, they have really surpassed our expectations. After one year, we're an established brand [with] the ability to make money. We were surprised on all of those dimensions.
When did it become profitable?
In about the second quarter, we started to get closer to breakeven and so we said, "Wow. We did not anticipate this. Double down. Go get more aggressive." Then it popped up to breakeven or [making] a little money. It has just continued to exceed -- not massively, but modestly -- our expectations, and we really haven't lost any money on it.
So what took Dell so long to get into printers?
We have a lot of fish to fry.
How hard would it be to accept Advanced Micro Devices as a major new chip supplier?
The bigger problem is the complexity that it throws into the (PC or server) product line. We would have to have a separate R&D group to do those products, and that would have to be sequestered from the Intel team. That adds inefficiency right off the bat.
What about offering a Dell-AMD game PC, for example? It would have high margins and play to a specific and enthusiastic audience?
We have looked at that, and maybe at some point we will. The gaming market is kind of nice and high-margin. But it's very, very, very small.
What if you wanted to make a statement?
To make a statement for who is the question? To rub it in Intel's nose? No. It would be because we want to make some money.
Are you getting a lot of customer feedback from people interested in AMD's Opteron?
We're not getting an overwhelming customer surge that says, "Dang it, I won't buy unless you get them." There are some who say that but, again, it's not very large.
So what's your advice to AMD?
Just keep doing what they're doing. They're in a tough game, but I think they're doing better lately than they've ever done before.
Microsoft has also made a lot of missteps in the past 18 months and also a lot of security flaws. How has that impacted Dell?
I don't think it has impacted us in a major way. We have to sell our product anyway, and most people have not waited (for new software). I think we want to always keep those (software) cycles going, but they are not as big they were back in the '90s.
Security is also a growing concern.
Absolutely. It's a huge concern for customers, and Microsoft knows this. They've got security written all over their foreheads up in Redmond now. They have got the message. We have recently launched a spyware, security software package that we want to get more customers on. We think the best defence for (customers) is not to complain about Microsoft, it's to get the latest software capability in virus protection and spyware protection.
